


Draw Your Love for Me

by ruffini



Series: Chalex AU's [1]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys In Love, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26291812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruffini/pseuds/ruffini
Summary: It was a well-documented, albeit unknown, phenomenon that at some point in a person’s childhood, they and their soulmate developed a bond. Once the bond was made, anything that they drew on their skin would appear in the exact same spot on their soulmate’s skin. No one knew what caused these bonds to form nor did anyone know when each person would receive their soulmate. It was random and varied from person to person but sometimes, if you were lucky, you'd get your soulmate early on in life.Or, the Soulmate AU where anything you draw on yourself will appear on your soulmate's body, Chalex style.
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Series: Chalex AU's [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924684
Comments: 37
Kudos: 70





	1. First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is something I've been super excited to finally write about. It's also going to be my first multi-chapter fic and it'll be the first fic where it's not just pure fluff. (Hurray for so many firsts) I hope you all enjoy this fic because it's definitely a fun one to write. I plan to update at least once a week but knowing me, it'll probably be more like twice a week or so.

It was a well-documented, albeit unknown, phenomenon that at some point in a person’s childhood, they and their soulmate developed a bond. Once the bond was made, anything that they drew on their skin would appear in the exact same spot on their soulmate’s skin. No one knew what caused these bonds to form nor did anyone know when each person would receive their soulmate. It was random and varied from person to person but sometimes, if you were lucky, you'd get your soulmate early on in life.

Charlie grew up listening to stories about soulmates and how they were the one person in the entire universe that was meant for you. How your soulmate was the one person who would love and cherish you more than anything else in the world and you to them. He loved those stories and the thought that there was someone out there who would love him no matter what made him excited to finally meet his soulmate one day.

So of course, when the inevitable day arrived, Charlie was beyond ecstatic. He was six, just about to turn seven when it happened. Charlie was sitting in the living room playing with his toys when he noticed little drawings of what he guessed were puppies appearing on his arm. At first, Charlie was too shocked to do anything other than stare at his arm. Then, after his brain caught up, he realized that this meant his bond with his soulmate had been established. Immediately jumping up from where he was sitting in the living room, he ran around the house looking for his parents.

“Mommy! Daddy! Look at my arm!” He basically yelled as he ran.

Helen St. George didn’t know what had happened to her son, so hearing him yell with such urgency made her nervous. Just as she looked up from the batch of cookies she was working on, her husband also wandered in, their boisterous six year old drawing his attention as well. The two of them quickly ran to where their son was.

“Charlie, sweet heart, what is it? Are you hurt?” Helen asked, voice laced with concern.

Charlie turned to face his mom, still thrusting his arm out for her and his dad to see.

“Look! Here, at my arm! They appeared out of nowhere!”

Helen and Jack St. George looked at their son’s arm. They noticed the tiny drawings and at first didn’t know what was the fuss. They both had thought that Charlie had drawn them himself but then realized: Charlie wouldn’t have created so much fuss over something he had drawn. It was then, both parents realized that their son had just received his bond with his soulmate. Turning to their son, the two of them quickly enveloped their son in a hug.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so happy for you.” Helen said.

“Mommy, can I have a pen? I wanna draw with my soulmate too.” Charlie asked.

Jack disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a pen, handing it over to Charlie. Charlie took it and ran off back to the living room, excited to start drawing with his soulmate.

It was a few hours later, when Helen had finished baking all her cookies that she decided to go look for her son. Walking into the living room, she found him passed out on the ground, asleep with various doodles and drawings on his arm. She also noticed that Charlie had fallen asleep with the pen uncapped and had accidentally left marks all over his face. Smiling at the sight, she took a picture of her son before going over and gently waking him up.

“Charlie, sweetheart, wake up.” She nudged him gently, trying to coax him awake.

“Mmmm noo, I wanna sleep.” Her son whined back at her, rolling in the other direction as if trying to get away from whatever it was that was trying to wake him up.

Deciding she would need something more convincing, Helen got up and went back to the kitchen, grabbing one of the still warm cookies, and went back to her son. She waved the cookie under his nose and bit back a laugh as she watched Charlie shoot up, wide awake at the smell of cookies. Charlie immediately tried to grab the cookie but Helen stopped him.

“Oh no, remember you need to wash your hands before eating. And you got ink on your face so we need to wash that off first too.” Helen then led her son to the kitchen sink and washed the ink off her son’s face. She left the drawings on his arm for now, since she had a feeling Charlie would want to talk about them.

Sitting Charlie down at the kitchen table, she handed him a cookie and some milk before sitting down with him. Pointing at her son’s arm, she asked him what he and his soulmate drew. At that, Charlie’s eyes lit up as he started explaining.

“They drew a bunch of puppies so I thought that they all needed toys, so I drew some balls for them to play with. Then we started drawing some people to play with them.” Charlie explained.

Helen smiled and sat there listening to her son talk about the images on his arm. She was glad her son had gained his soulmate, but began to grow curious about what Charlie’s soulmate would be like. She was a bit excited to eventually meet them, but didn’t expect that to happen soon.

* * *

It was a few weeks after first discovering that he had a soulmate when Charlie finally met them. Up until this point, he didn’t know their name or if they were a boy or a girl. While he was still too young to understand the complexities of sexual orientation, he had seen plenty of same-sex soulmates when he was out with his parents. His parents explained it to him that it didn’t matter if a person’s soulmate was a boy or a girl, all that mattered was that they would love their soulmate and that those feelings would be returned.

After a few weeks of trading drawings and doodles, Charlie got curious and wiping the ink he had drawn onto his skin off, chose to write a message instead.

_My name is Charlie by the way. What’s yours?_

After waiting a while with no response, Charlie got worried that he might have scared off his soulmate. But before he could spiral more into his thoughts, he noticed words appearing on his arm.

_I’m Alex._

Smiling brightly, Charlie wrote back. It didn’t even faze him that his soulmate was a boy. He didn’t care, all he cared about was that he knew his soulmate’s name.

_Are you in Evergreen?_

A few more moments later, Alex responded.

_I had to ask my mom, but she said yes we are._

Excited at the prospect that his soulmate was in the same city as him, Charlie really hoped that he would be willing to meet up so they could meet. But to his surprise, his soulmate had beaten him to the punch.

_I asked my mom if we could go to the park. Do you want to play there?_

Charlie’s face broke out into a big smile as he ran off to find his parents. After both his parents decided they would go with him, the three of them got in the car and drove the short distance to the park.

Upon arriving, Charlie was eager to get out of the car and meet his soulmate. He ran to the playground, looking around for someone else. The park was mostly empty so it wasn’t hard to spot another boy sitting on the swings. Charlie couldn’t tell for sure since the boy was sitting down but he seemed to be shorter than Charlie by a bit, had dirty blonde hair, soft facial features, and perhaps the most beautiful blue eyes Charlie had ever seen.

Slowing down upon approaching because he didn’t want to startle the other boy, Charlie got a little nervous. What if he got this all wrong and this boy wasn’t his soulmate? What if his soulmate thought he was weird? Swallowing his nerves and mustered up his courage, Charlie stepped forward.

“Alex?” Charlie asked shyly.

The boy looked up and the two of them locked eyes. Charlie instantly felt a connection and before he even got a response, he knew he had met his soulmate.

“Yeah, that’s me. You’re Charlie?” Alex responded back, traces of a small smile forming on his lips.

Charlie beamed back. “Yep. You want to go play in the sandbox? I brought a few toys with me.”

Alex smiled shyly before getting up “Sure, I brought some too, let me just get them from my mom.”

Alex turned and ran over to a man and a woman standing nearby. The woman handed him a few toys before Alex ran back over the Charlie. The two of them headed over to the sandbox, the innocence of childhood taking over as they dreamed up some grand adventure together.

While the boys played, Helen and Jack made their way over to the other couple watching the kids. Wanting to get to know the parents of their son’s soulmates, Helen and Jack quickly introduced themselves.

“Hi there, I’m Helen St. George and this is my husband, Jack St. George.” Helen said in a warm, friendly tone. She extended her hand out as the other couple turned to face them.

“It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Carolyn Standall and this is my husband, Bill Standall.” Carolyn responded back with an equally friendly tone, taking Helen’s hand in her own while Bill shook Jack’s. Reaching into her bag, Helen brought out a Tupperware filled with cookies.

“Would you like one? These are Charlie’s favorite cookies, so I thought you guys might want to try.” Helen asked while offering the cookies to the Standalls.

Carolyn and Bill each took one, taking a bite before both their eyes widened in amazement.

“Helen, these are amazing. I bake sometimes myself but these cookies are something else.” Carolyn said.

Laughing at the compliment, the two women already arranged a future date to get together and just bake with the kids. Helen learned that while Alex didn’t have much of an interest in the process of actually baking cookies and treats, once they were ready, it was near impossible to stop him from eating them. Carolyn learned that Charlie was extremely invested in baking and loved to work with his mom.

While their wives talked about their new baking date coming up, Bill turned to talk to Jack.

“You know, when Alex found out that he got his soulmate, he was so freaked out. He didn’t expect it to happen so quickly so when Charlie started drawing pictures back, Alex just froze for a bit.” Bill chuckled at the memory.

“Tell me about it. Charlie ran around the house calling for us at that moment and I ran to him thinking he got hurt. He almost gave me a heart attack because he made it sound so urgent.” Jack responded back.

“Well, seeing as our wives are already arranging future meetups and get togethers, I just want to say, you guys should come by for dinner some time. It’d be great to get to know you guys more.” Bill offered to Jack.

Smiling, Jack responded “Yeah, we’d love to.”

Turning their attention back to their two kids, the St. Georges and the Standalls watched as their sons played with each other for a while longer. Once it got dark, the unfortunately had to go their separate ways home, but made plans to hold a few play dates in the coming week for their sons.

That night, as Helen and Jack tucked Charlie into bed, he thought about his soulmate, Alex Standall, who was everything Charlie had ever dreamed of. Even though he was still young and had a lot to learn about when it came to love, Charlie knew that he already loved Alex. He also had a strong suspicion that, even though the other boy was quieter and a little bit shyer than him, Alex also loved him back. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep that night with a smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's known his soulmate for over a year now. He has a small group of friends who he loves dearly. But what happens when life decides to throw a stone at the calm lake that is Charlie's life? 
> 
> How will he cope? And how will those around him show him how much he means to them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this was a bit harder to write. This is the first time I've ever truly written any angst before so bear with me if it's not as well written. I also don't know too much about cancer diagnosis so I tried to stay away from getting too technical with the medical aspect of things. But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Some things to note going forward with this fic:  
> \- There will sadly be no Hannah. I couldn't find a way to work her into it so I'm just going to pretend that she's happily living her life somewhere else in the world.  
> \- Bryce and Monty are going to be bullies but they don't rape anyone.  
> \- Charlie's mom survives her cancer diagnosis since I really wanted to write a fic where Charlie has his mom while growing up. But he still learns to bake really good cookies because he still bakes with his mom.

Charlie was eight when life threw its first curve ball at him. By this point, Charlie and Alex had become near inseparable. The two were only a year apart and would spend as much time together, and when they couldn’t be together, they would spend their time drawing and writing to each other.

Shortly after meeting Alex for the first time a year and a half ago, Charlie quickly met and befriended Alex’s to other friends. His soulmate’s friends were also a year older than him, but that didn’t stop them from becoming some of Charlie’s best friends as well. Alex had two friends he was extremely close with.

The first was a tall, Asian boy named Zach. Zach was incredibly laid back, but also smart and kind. He tended to just let things happen as they would and only really ever got involved in something if it involved Alex, Charlie, or their other friend Jessica. Jessica scared Charlie at first. For a nine year old, she was very capable of roughing up bullies if provoked or telling them off when they tried to insult her. But Charlie quickly learned that if she considered you her friend, she would do everything to protect and stand up for you, which Charlie came to respect a lot.

And just like that, three became four and the four of them were always seen with each other during lunch or recess or after school. They had claimed their own little spot in the school yard and after the entire school witnessed Jessica take down a few kids who thought they could try to mess with Alex, no one dared to encroach on their territory. If you asked Charlie, he was more than content with this arrangement.

The day had started off as usual. Charlie would wake up to his arm covered in pictures and drawings. Alex woke up much earlier than Charlie, so he would pass the time drawing out some scene for his soulmate as a way to say good morning. This morning, Charlie woke up to what looked like an underwater scene. Alex had drawn a bunch of little fish all over his arm.

Smiling, Charlie grabbed a nearby pen and wrote out his good morning.

_Morning Lex. Were you drawing fish?_

_Good morning Charlie. Yeah, I had a dream that we lived in the ocean with a lot of fish._

Alex responded relatively quickly. After exchanging a few more messages and Charlie adding to the scene on his arm, he went to find his mom. While he was learning to get ready for school on his own, he still wanted his mom nearby to make sure things were ok.

After getting ready for the day, Charlie got into the car with his dad. He would be dropping Charlie off at school before going to work. Arriving at school, Charlie immediately sought out his friends. They stayed together until the bell rang and Charlie would join the 3rd graders while Alex, Zach, and Jess would head to the 4th grade classrooms.

Charlie was sitting in class waiting for lunch to roll around because that would mean being able to be with Alex. But he got called to the office before lunch. Charlie was a bit nervous because he was sure he didn’t break any rules or do anything bad. Arriving at the office, he saw his dad there. Slightly confused, since his dad should have been at work and it wasn’t time to get picked up after school yet, Charlie made his way over.

“Dad? Why are you here?”

Jack St. George didn’t respond immediately. This started to worry Charlie because usually his parents would have an answer for his questions.

“I’m signing you out of school the rest of the day. It’s your mother, she’s in the hospital.” Charlie’s dad said, trying to sound calm.

The news that his mom was in the hospital made Charlie’s blood run cold. His immediate reaction was to cry. But for some reason, he felt like he couldn’t.

“Wh-what do you mean she’s in the hospital dad? She was ok this morning.”

“I know buddy, but right now, we both need to be strong. For your mom. Now, we’re going to go check up on her. Be strong Charlie. I know you can.” Jack replied, trying his best to keep his son calm.

Charlie numbly followed his dad to the car and spent the entire car ride in his head. He was worried they would hear the worst news possible: that whatever happened to his mom would be fatal. He didn’t entirely understand the concept of death, but he knew for sure he didn’t want to lose his mother. He wasn’t sure if it was because his dad drove a little faster than usual or if it was because he was so lost in his own thoughts that by the time Charlie looked up, they had arrived at the hospital.

Heading inside, the two were met by the doctor. The doctor explained things to Charlie’s dad in words that Charlie didn’t fully understand. But he did pick up that they weren’t sure if his mom would make it through. She had something known as cancer and from what Charlie could tell, it could go very bad.

Stunned at the news, Charlie could only sit there next to his mom, who was lying in a hospital bed, currently asleep. He hadn’t even realized that neither his soulmate nor his friends knew where he had gone until he noticed writing appearing on the inside of his left arm.

_Where are you Char? Jess and Zach and I are worried._

It then hit Charlie that his friends didn’t know. He grabbed a pen and quickly wrote, with shaky hands, to his soulmate.

_Hospital. My mom’s sick. My dad said she has something called cancer._

Charlie felt incredibly alone. He wished he had Alex with him or Jess and Zach. He had come to lean on all three of the older kids for support over the past year and a half and he wished they could be here now. But he knew there was no way that could happen right now. However, almost as if Alex had sensed it or just knew, he was already drawing something new on his arm. Three stick figures, one taller than the other two, one with long hair, and then one of average height appeared on his arm.

_These three are Zach, Jess, and me. We aren’t there right now but I’m leaving this on my arm for the rest of the day so that you’ll have us there for you._ Alex had written. All three figures were smiling, as if Alex was using them to communicate that they were there for him.

It was looking at this that Charlie felt a single tear slide down his cheek. He wasn’t alone, his friends were there for him even if they weren’t there. Turning back to his mom, he grabbed her hand in his, hoping that she would be alright.

* * *

Charlie must have dozed off because he was being shaken awake by his dad.

“Charlie? Wake up, your friends are here.” Jack said gently.

Charlie slowly blinked, looking up to see Alex, Zach, and Jess standing on the other side of the bed.

“How did you guys get here?” Charlie asked, slightly confused.

“I asked my mom to bring us here. I told her your mom was sick and that we needed to make sure you were also ok.” Alex replied, almost as if stating a fact.

At that, Charlie finally let his tears spill out. He was aware of Alex, Zach, and Jess hurrying over to him. He felt Alex wrap him in a hug as the older boy pulled him close so that Charlie’s head was nestled in the crook of his neck. Zach came around the other side and enveloped the two boys in a bear hug, resting his head on top of Charlie’s. Jess sat on the arm rest of the chair and put a comforting hand on Charlie’s leg. The three of them held Charlie as he cried, Alex trying his best to comfort his soulmate.

“It’s ok Char, your mom will be ok. My mom said this is one of the best hospitals in town. And we’re all here with you and your mom.”

Jessica quickly added in “Your mom is strong and so are you. She’s going to fight through this no problem.”

Zach didn’t have much to say, but gave his agreement to the things his two friends had said, opting instead to tighten his bear hug. The four of them stayed like that, huddled up on the chair while Charlie cried before finally calming down.

Later that night, Charlie was getting ready to go to sleep when he heard a knock on his room door. Feeling drained from the day’s news, Charlie wasn’t feeling up to talking to anyone else.

“Go away. I don’t want to see anyone right now.” Charlie said, his voice shaking.

The door to his room opened slightly as Alex peeked in. His soulmate had a small smile on his face as he looked at Charlie.

“Not even me?” He asked.

Charlie hesitated for a minute. While he didn’t want to see anyone else at the moment, he actually really wanted Alex to stay. So relenting, he gestured for Alex to come in.

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home?”

Alex walked over to where Charlie was sitting on his bed. He pulled Charlie into a hug before giving his answer.

“I asked my mom to call your dad if I could sleep over. You’re sad and I don’t want you to be sad. So I’m going to stay with you all weekend so you can be a bit happier.”

After explaining himself, Alex pulled the two of them down so they could lay down. Holding Charlie close so that Charlie’s head was resting on his chest, Alex rubbed comforting circles into Charlie’s back. Feeling possibly as ok as he could given what had happened so far, Charlie allowed himself to drift off to sleep, in Alex’s arms.

* * *

The following weeks were hard for Charlie. His mom was slowly making a recovery, but some days it felt like she would never get better. It was during this time that Charlie had learned to really lean on his friends for support when he needed it.

One day, after his mom had finally been released from the hospital to finish her recovery at home, Charlie was sitting in the kitchen trying to figure out a cookie recipe. He had watched his mom make cookies so many times, but this was the first time he would be attempting to make them on his own, with his dad’s supervision just to be safe. His plan was to make his mom’s granola camp cookies for her.

Charlie again noticed Alex was drawing on his arm. This time, Charlie laughed at what was being drawn. Alex drew a bunch of circles with dots in them, which Charlie assumed were supposed to be cookies. Sometimes Charlie wondered if Alex just knew what was going on inside Charlie’s head because of how fitting his drawings were. Making a split second decision, Charlie grabbed a pen to write back.

_Want to come over? I’m making cookies._

A few moments passed before he got a response.

_My parents are going to bring me over._

About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and the Standalls were here. While Charlie led Alex off to the kitchen to get started on the cookies, Bill and Carolyn went with Jack to check on Helen.

Charlie and Alex tried their best to keep the mess to a minimum. But that was a doomed mission given that they were both eight and nine years old respectively. When Jack, Bill, and Carolyn walked into the kitchen to check on their boys, they saw both of the boys covered in flour along with the floor and the table. Amazingly though, the boys had managed to get several trays of cookies, albeit slightly misshapen, into the oven to bake. Taking the cookies out of the oven, Charlie and Alex were sent upstairs to clean up. After letting the cookies cool off and letting everyone try one each, Charlie took some on a plate to his mom. He brought Alex along and left their parents in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Entering quietly so that he wouldn’t disturb his mom, Charlie quickly ran over to her bed. She was sitting up reading a book when he came in. Looking up from her book, Helen’s eyes immediately shone with fondness as her son and his soulmate came wandering in.

“Charlie, what are you doing here?” She asked, voice laced with affection.

“Alex and I made you granola camp cookies. We want you to try them.” Charlie replied with pride.

Helen reached over and picked one up to try. The cookies were a bit too sweet, but they were perfectly crispy on the outside and chewy in the center.

“Mmm, these are amazing. You two did an amazing job on these.” Helen reached over giving the two boys a pat on the head. They stayed with her for a while longer, just talking to her and telling her about the things that had happened over the week.

It would be a while before his mom would fully recovered, but Charlie was beginning to feel better. But with Alex by his side, Charlie knew he would be able to face any challenges life threw his way. If only he knew that life planned on testing that in the future. But for now, eight year old Charlie was learning to be strong for those around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you guys think about this fic so far in the comments below. 
> 
> Hoping to have the next chapter up sometime in the middle of this coming week so stay on the look out for that! Until next time!


	3. New Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Alex enjoy an afternoon together when Alex fills Charlie in with details of the day they discovered their connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the shorter chapter but I wanted to throw in some fluff after the bit of angst last chapter and in preparation for the angst in the upcoming chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it!

By the time Charlie was fourteen, he was pretty happy with his life. His mom had made a full recovery from his illness, albeit she would be slightly weaker than before, he started playing football in middle school and had made it onto the freshman team, he was still best friends with Zach and Jess but they had also added several other members to their friend group by now, AND Alex had officially asked him to be his boyfriend a few days after Charlie’s 14th birthday. That last point wasn’t as much of a surprise since they were soulmates, but there was still something about it that made Charlie so happy that they made it official. All in all, fourteen year old Charlie was loving life.

Charlie and Alex were over at Charlie’s house in his room. Zach and Jess had just left after the four of them decided to have a hang out session. Laying on the bed side by side and staring up at the ceiling, enjoying the peacefulness around them. After a while, Alex spoke up first.

“Do you remember the day we found out we had a soulmate?”

Intrigued at this question, Charlie turned his head so that he was looking at his boyfriend.

“Yeah, of course. Why?”

Now, Alex turned to face Charlie.

“No real reason. I was just thinking about how it started because my parents left me with a pen and I was practicing how to draw a dog. Needless to say I was pretty surprised when all of a sudden someone started drawing back.” Alex said with a fond look in his eyes.

“I definitely know how you feel. I was just playing with my toys in the living room when all of a sudden drawings appeared on my arm. I almost gave my parents a heart attack when I freaked out.”

Alex and Charlie laughed a bit at the memory of first discovering their connection.

“I have to ask though Charles, why were you drawing on your face at some point?” Alex asked trying to restrain a laugh at his boyfriend’s confused look.

“What? I never drew on my fac-“Charlie started before remembering he had fallen asleep with an uncapped pen. “Oh…I might have fallen asleep with the pen uncapped. I guess it must have left some marks on my face.”

“Yes, ‘some’ marks. My face was covered in random scribbles for the rest of the afternoon.” Alex replied with his usual sarcasm.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that, I guess six year old me got a little over excited.” Charlie said with a sheepish grin.

“Well I was completely fine with it. My mom however, was pretty mad. We were supposed to go out with the rest of our family to take some photos, but now I was stuck with marks all over my face. She even spent a few minutes trying to wash them off my face even though she knew it wouldn’t be possible. So there are pictures of me looking like I got in a fight with a sharpie and lost.” Alex said, full on grinning now at the look of horror developing on his soulmate’s face.

“Wait what? So you’re telling me that without having even met you or your family, I already left a bad impression on them?” Charlie asked, horrified at the thought that he’d already angered Alex’s family once.

“Nah, the rest of my family thought it was hilarious. My grandma had to get my grandpa to stop laughing so hard. I honestly thought it was kind of funny because I was wondering what kind of person draws like that on their face. But mom was pretty upset since she had gotten me this nice outfit.” Alex said, smirk firmly in place as he watched Charlie bury his face into the crook of his neck.

“Great, I was so fascinated at having a soulmate and turns out you were wondering how much of an idiot I was.” Charlie mumbled into his boyfriend’s neck.

Laughing as he rolled over to wrap Charlie up in his arms, Alex placed a kiss on the top of Charlie’s head.

“You might be, but you’re my idiot and I love you all the same.” Alex said, pulling Charlie closer.

Charlie peaked up at Alex before fully breaking into his signature sunny smile. Leaning up to capture Alex’s lips in a kiss, Charlie smiled.

“Good, because I love you too.”

Alex leaned down to give Charlie another kiss. His phone buzzed half way through their kiss, so the broke apart. Checking his phone, he saw the group chat he had with Charlie and their friends blowing up. From what he could gather, Justin wanted to meet up at Monet’s and was trying to get everyone to go. Knowing that Charlie would probably want to go, Alex sat up.

“Well, our very needy friends want to meet up again, so let’s head out?”

Getting up as well, Charlie gave Alex one more quick kiss. “Yep, wouldn’t be polite to keep them waiting.”

The two of them grabbed their things before heading out the door to walk the few blocks over to Monet’s hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hoping you guys liked the fluff in this chapter. And prepare for the angst next chapter. It'll be the last angsty chapter for this fic but I intend to really double down on it. Leave your comments below, I love reading them :)


	4. The Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Alex head to Monet's to meet up with their friends. But life takes a sudden turn for the worse when Alex is involved in an accident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the later than usual update, life's been getting in the way over the past few days. Also warning ahead for angst, but I promise you all it'll be getting better after this chapter. This chapter was getting too long so I'm splitting it into two. I'll post the second part tomorrow, so today it'll be a bit of an angsty cliff hanger.
> 
> Also, I just want to give a shoutout to AlexStandallStan because they helped me find a way to include the concept I had for this particular chapter into the overall flow of the story. 
> 
> Warnings ahead: angst, some mentions of injuries and people getting hurt, but nothing graphic or too extreme.

The walk to Monet’s was a pleasant one. The day was sunny and the weather outside was pleasant enough. Charlie and Alex were joking and laughing as they walked hand and hand down the side walk. Alex’s eyes were full of happiness and filled with adoration for his soulmate. Charlie’s own smile was more radiant than usual as well as they joked around. Charlie thought things couldn’t have been better than that moment. They were a block from Monet’s when everything went wrong though.

They were crossing the street when out of nowhere a car came speeding around the corner. The driver didn’t seem to be paying attention and didn’t slow down even though the two boys were right in the middle of the street. Alex noticed the car first and reacted fast enough to shove Charlie out of the way, but didn’t have enough time to completely get out of the way himself. He tried to jump out of the way as well, but the car had managed to catch him on the side, resulting in him hitting his head on the side view mirror before tumbling to the ground before the car screeched to a halt.

For Charlie, he watched everything happen in slow motion. From the moment he felt Alex push him forward, he turned and watched as Alex was hit. Charlie felt like he couldn’t scream or shout or even speak as that happened in front of him. It was only when Alex hit the ground and didn’t move that Charlie finally managed to move or speak.

“ALEX!” Charlie screamed.

Scrabbling to his feet, Charlie quickly ran over to his soulmate’s limp body. Getting to him, he quickly examined the damage. Alex was unconscious, his left leg and left arm were bent in an odd direction, and he was bleeding from a wound on his head. Charlie’s first thought was to try to shake Alex and see if he would wake up but stopped himself, since he didn’t know how much damage Alex had suffered.

“Alex, hey Alex please. Wake up.” Charlie repeated, holding onto Alex’s left hand while tears started to run down his cheeks. “Please, Lex. Please wake up.”

In his panic, Charlie hadn’t thought of calling an ambulance but he didn’t have to. As it turned out, just as the crash had happened Clay and Tyler had just walked up on the other side of the street. Seeing their friend get hit, the two immediately ran over. Tyler was already on the phone calling 911 while Clay ran over to Charlie.

“Charlie! Oh my god, what happened? Are you hurt? Tyler’s calling an ambulance, help is on the way.” Clay quickly rambled out.

Trying to hold his tears back but failing, Charlie looked up at Clay. “We- we were crossing the street when out of nowhere that car came speeding down the road. I- I guess Alex saw it first because he…he pushed me out of the way. Before- before he g-got hit.”

Tyler had joined them by now and Zach and Jessica had come running over as well. Their other friends were already inside Monet’s waiting when it had all happened and had come outside to investigate. Seeing Alex on the ground and Charlie, Clay, and Tyler surrounding him, the group hurried over. Zach ran to Alex, having some knowledge on injuries and first aid, and assessed the damage. He knew both Alex’s leg and arm were broken, but he was concerned about potential head injuries.

The ambulance arrived by now and the paramedics were clearing the way to get to Alex. Carefully getting him onto the gurney and into the ambulance, Charlie was permitted to ride in the ambulance with Alex due to him being his soulmate. The rest of their friends promised to meet him at the hospital as soon as possible, but Charlie wasn’t really paying attention. He was too in shock and was trying to not focus on Alex’s unconscious form lying right next to him as the paramedics tried to do their jobs. Arriving at the hospital, Alex was rushed off to the emergency room while Charlie stumbled to the waiting room. As he walked over, he called Alex’s parents to let them know their son was in the hospital.

“Hello? Hi Mr. and Mrs. Standall, it’s Charlie. I uh, I have some bad news to give…Alex- Alex is in the hospital right now.” Charlie said when he heard them pick up the phone.

“We, we were walking to Monet’s to meet up with our friends when a car came speeding out of nowhere. Alex…he saw the car first and pushed me out of the way and tried to dodge the car. But…but he didn’t miss it completely and he got hit.”

Hanging up after hearing that Alex’s parents were on the way, he called his own parents and let them know what just happened. After hanging up with them as well, Charlie was left to his own thoughts as he waited for news from the doctors.

Charlie hated being in the hospital, being reminded of how close he was to losing his mom when he was eight. And this time, sitting in the waiting room alone, Charlie was reminded about how small he felt then and how small he was feeling now. He prayed to the universe or just anyone out there for Alex to be ok. He couldn’t lose his soulmate now, the thought of not having Alex in his life terrified him and made his heart ache painfully.

Charlie wasn’t sure if he had been stuck in his own thoughts for a while or if everyone had truly just rushed to the hospital, but the next thing he knew, Alex’s parents and his parents had arrived. Getting up, the four adults quickly wrapped Charlie into a hug. Charlie finally broke into sobs as he cried against his parents and Alex’s parents. Eventually calming down to a degree, they all took a seat in the waiting area for the doctors to come with news.

Little by little, Charlie and Alex’s friends trickled in. Zach and Jessica were the first to arrive and immediately took a seat on either side of Charlie. Jessica held onto Charlie’s hand as if to physically remind him that she was there for him while Zach again wrapped him into a side hug. Charlie briefly thought about how this was very similar to when he was eight years old, sitting next to his mom’s hospital bed wrapped up in a hug with Alex, Zach, and Jessica. But this time, Alex was the one in the hospital and Charlie couldn’t stop the feelings of dread and sadness. Their other friends Clay, Tyler, Tony, and Justin sat around, all silently waiting but equally as anxious for good news.

Finally, after what felt like hours and hours, a doctor finally came out to deliver the news. Alex’s parents got up to talk to the doctor while the rest of the group sat up in their seats to pay attention. Charlie in particular had stood up and felt his parents hold him on either side.

“He’s going to make it. His left leg and arm were badly broken and he will need to go through physical therapy to regain most of his mobility. However, it was the blow to his head that’s the most concerning. Alex has suffered a traumatic brain injury, or a TBI, and will need further time to heal. We’ve placed him in a coma for now to allow his body to heal, but just know that he will make it out of this.” The doctor informed.

Charlie felt relieved at the news that Alex would make it. But then when the fact that Alex was in a coma hit, Charlie felt sick again. This time he was worried when Alex would wake up. The doctor didn’t sound like Alex would be in a coma for long, but he knew it was hard to gauge when Alex would wake up. Would it be in a few days? A week? A month? But before Charlie could spiral further into his thoughts, he felt someone grab his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Bill looking at him.

“We’re going to go see him. Do you want to come with us?” Bill asked, eyes trying to convey some comfort to his son’s soulmate.

Nodding silently, Charlie followed the Standalls while everyone else waited outside. Walking into Alex’s hospital room, Charlie almost didn’t even believe that Alex had been hurt. If it weren’t for the fact that his head was wrapped in a bandage or his arm and leg were in casts or the machine keeping track of Alex’s vitals, Charlie would have thought that he was just asleep. Charlie tried to control his emotions as he walked over to Alex’s side and held his good hand in his. But the moment he got to his soulmate, Charlie felt tears stream down his face. His soulmate was lying here completely vulnerable and hurt and Charlie couldn’t do anything to fix it.

As Charlie sat there next to Alex holding his hand, he again started praying to the universe that Alex would wake up soon. He didn’t know what life would be like without Alex being next to him, nor did he want to find out. Charlie had essentially grown up joined at the hip with his soulmate and he hoped and prayed he wouldn’t have to go too long without Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm sorry if the angst is a bit much but I really wanted to find a way to incorporate Alex's injuries without having to resorting to having him make another attempt. But leave your comments below because I love reading them and I will have the next part up by tomorrow!


	5. There's Always a Light at the End of the Tunnel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex finally wakes up. There's still work to be done but Charlie couldn't be happier to finally know that his soulmate is awake and on track to make a recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank you all for those who stuck through the angst. We are now back to our regularly scheduled fluff session. This chapter's a little light on the Chalex but I promise you the next one will have more Chalex fluff and some platonic Zach and Alex and Jess and Alex friendship as well.

It had been three weeks since the crash. And it had been three weeks since Charlie has had any semblance of a regular life. He went to school, went to football practice on practice days, then immediately headed to the hospital to sit by Alex’s bed. His soulmate was still in a coma, the doctors unable to say when exactly he would wake up. But the silver lining was that Alex’s body was healing and that there were no signs of any possible complications. So for Charlie, it was just a waiting game for when Alex would wake up. Charlie would spend his time talking to Alex, filling him in on the things that he had missed. Sometimes Jess and Zach would stop by as well to keep Charlie company or some of their other friends would come to visit and check on Alex.

Charlie tried his best to stay positive and hopeful. But it was hard to do so whenever he would be greeted with the sight of an unconscious Alex lying in the hospital bed. Eventually, Charlie started to draw on his right arm, since that would be the arm that wasn’t in a cast on Alex, in hopes that at some point, Alex would wake up and see either the messages he would write each day or the random doodles. Charlie kept this up, doing a quick drawing or writing out a quick message on his right arm when he woke up. It was honestly a little difficult at first given that Charlie was right-handed but he eventually got comfortable enough with his left hand that he could write and draw decently well.

And so, after another two more weeks, Charlie woke up that Monday of the sixth week since the accident, hoping for good news today but at the same time facing the reality that things might take a while longer. Charlie decided to write out a short list of the reasons why he loved Alex, since he had drawn a picture the previous day.

_Why I love Alex:_

  1. _His half smirk/smile_
  2. _His kind heart_
  3. _When he tries to pretend like he’s not affectionate._



Charlie had just written the third point when he noticed something appearing on his arm. Dropping his pen in shock, Charlie watched. The mark started out as a single line, before another one appeared right next to it, followed by a curved one underneath. It was then that Charlie realized someone had drawn a happy face on his arm. It was a little messy, but Charlie could make out what it was. Tears welling in his eyes, Charlie quickly ran down the stairs to get his mom.

“Mom! Can you take me to the hospital right now?” Charlie ran into the kitchen, startling his mother.

“Oh honey, did something happen? You have to go to school still and practice after don’t you?” Helen said, turning to face her son.

Charlie showed his mom his arm. Helen looked past the writing and saw the poorly drawn smiley face. Understanding what Charlie meant, she felt tears well in her eyes since this was the first time in weeks since Charlie had shown any emotion beyond sadness. Nodding silently, she motioned for Charlie to head outside.

“Go wait by the car sweetheart, I’ll call the school and let them know you’ll be missing class today.” Helen said before grabbing her phone.

Charlie’s face broke into a full on grin as he nodded before running to get his phone, wallet, and keys. Helen made a quick call to the school and let them know that Charlie would be out of class today before grabbing her keys and meeting her son at the car. The drive was quick and the two pulled up to the hospital. Helen had to get to work so she dropped off Charlie at the front and watched him run inside. Letting a single tear fall because she could finally see some semblance of the happy boy her son was come back, she quickly composed herself and drove off.

* * *

Charlie walked as fast as he could to Alex’s room. Stopping outside the door, he braced himself. Slowly opening the door, he peaked in and immediately felt more tears forming. Alex was laying there, awake, looking back at him with a smile. Charlie quickly made his way over to the chair next to the bed and took a seat, taking Alex’s good hand in his own. Kissing Alex’s knuckles before looking into his soulmate’s eyes, Charlie finally felt tears run down his face.

“I- I thought you would never wake up. I was so scared that you would be in a coma forever and that I’d never get to see your smile or hear your voice again Lex.” Charlie started rambling.

But Alex gave his hand a squeeze before speaking. “Charles Hayden Brixton St. George, I will never leave you alone if I can help it. I’m ok now, so no more sad thoughts. I’m here, awake, and alright so let’s focus on that alright?”

Nodding and wiping his tears, Charlie leaned in to give Alex a proper kiss. He had missed being able to kiss Alex and feeling Alex’s soft lips against his own. Both boys smiled into the kiss before breaking apart for air.

“Does anyone else know you’re awake now?” Charlie asked.

“Well, my parents do but my dad had to go to work and my mom got called to take care of another patient. But you’re the first one outside of them to find out.” Alex said with a small smile.

Smiling again, Charlie filled Alex in on everything he had missed. The two traded laughs, small smiles, and Charlie told stories about their friend’s antics over the past few weeks.

Later in the afternoon, Zach and Jessica arrived at the hospital, having gotten Charlie’s text that Alex was awake. Their other friends would be coming to visit too, but Zach and Jessica decided that they would skip the rest of the school day so they could get to the hospital early. Entering the room, they found Charlie sitting next to a smiling Alex. Jessica immediately ran over and gave a gentle hug to Alex. Zach came over and immediately gave Alex a fist bump. The four friends finally felt like a whole unit again. Zach and Jess joined in with the stories and filled in the holes where Charlie couldn’t.

Eventually, a doctor came in to explain the next steps for Alex. He would have to stay in the hospital for a few more days just so they could monitor him, but he would be good to go home after those few days if nothing goes wrong. His leg would require extensive physical therapy to get back to close to full mobility, but he would be able to walk around for now with a special brace and a crutch. His arm was surprisingly fully healed, but he was warned that his left arm wouldn’t be able to return to full mobility, but he would be able to strength it with physical therapy as well. The main thing the doctor cautioned Alex about was his head injury. While he would be ok now, he should avoid any sort of full contact sports as a blow to the head could possibly be dangerous for him.

Taking the materials the doctor gave him, Alex thanked him before the doctor left the room. The four of them decided that Zach would help Alex with PT, since he had some knowledge on it thanks to football. Charlie would also help but to a lesser extent since he wasn’t as familiar with PT just yet. But around the end of their planning, their other friends had arrived so they turned their attention to their friends, deciding to finalize their plans later on.

It took a bit to get everyone situated inside the hospital room and as everyone hung around and just talked and joked, Alex turned to look at his soulmate. Even though he had no concept of time when in a coma, he still felt like he had missed out on so much time with Charlie. Reaching for Charlie’s hand, he held it in his, loving the feeling of Charlie’s slightly bigger hand enveloping his own. Getting Charlie’s attention, the two of them leaned in closer to each other.

“I love you Charles, so so much.” Alex said quietly.

Giving his signature Charlie smile, Charlie looked straight into Alex’s eyes. “I love you too Lex. I’m just so relieved that you’re ok.”

Smiling again, Alex leaned in and captured Charlie’s lips in a kiss. They hadn’t even realized that everyone’s attention was on them until they heard the collective “Awwh” from the group. Charlie just smiled as Alex flipped them off. But Alex couldn’t hide his smile either. He had missed all of this, including the teasing that his friends were now currently unleashing on to him and Charlie about how cute they were.

Alex really was grateful to be alive and he knew he’d be able to get through the physical therapy and recovery with Charlie at his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave your comments below and I will see you all in the next chapter :)


	6. Really Happy to be Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex spends some quality time with his best friends and comes to a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry this chapter took a little longer, life got in the way these last few days. But hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I really wanted to write more of Alex, Zach, and Jess just hanging out so this is a little self indulgent. There is also a ton of fluff in this chapter so hope you all enjoy it :)

Two months after Alex was discharged from the hospital, he had finally settled into a sort of new routine. He would do physical therapy at the pool with Zach on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Charlie would often times be sitting off to the side to “offer moral support” but Alex had a sneaking suspicion he was there more to admire his boyfriend than anything else. Jess and him would study together after school on days Charlie had football practice while they waited for him. Sometimes they would be in the library and other times they would sit in the bleachers watching Charlie, Zach, and Justin run around the field. Jessica had discovered at the beginning of their freshman year that Justin was her soulmate, so both she and Alex took great interest in watching their significant others working out.

Today was a Wednesday and Alex was currently in the pool with Zach trying to strengthen his left leg. Physical therapy was going well and Alex could feel himself getting a little strong each time. But getting this point even wasn’t easy. He had hit a snag a few weeks ago and had almost given up on trying to rehabilitate his injured leg. But Charlie, being the angel that he is, spent all week long writing cheesy inspirational quotes all over himself so that Alex would be forced to read them all week long.

If you asked Alex if those quotes worked, he would probably say he pushed himself to continue just to get Charlie to stop it with the obnoxious quotes. Charlie after all, decided that inspirational quotes weren’t enough and had started writing extremely bad poetry talking about how much he loved Alex on himself. But in private, to those he trusted, Alex would admit that all of Charlie’s antics had worked in lifting his mood and getting him motivated again. But he would never tell Charlie since that would just be an open invitation for his soulmate to go crazy with that idea.

But Alex was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Zach say his name.

“Hey Alex, you wanna go to Rosie’s for milkshakes later? As a sort of celebration for reaching this far in PT?” Zach asked, trying to hide the pride in his voice.

Alex thought about it for a moment. He was feeling kind of tired after all this physical activity, but milkshakes and fries did sound good.

“I don’t know Zach, I’m feeling kind of tired.” Alex drawled.

Zach apparently wasn’t planning on giving up though. He looked Alex in the eyes and had a mischievous look in his eye.

“Alex, I will literally PICK you up and carry you to my car and into Rosie’s if needed.” Zach replied, dead serious.

Alex just stared at Zach in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe what just came out of his best friend’s mouth. Zach evidently though, did not see the need to stop.

“What? It’s hot right? I’ll like physically pick you up like Prince Charming and carry you. Come on we can have hot banter can’t we?”

Alex just shook his head in disbelief. “Why am I friends with you again?”

Zach just took his question in stride. “Let’s see, I’m handsome, charming, saved you from those bullies in the 2nd grade, and mmh, I’m the best thing to happen to you.”

“For the record, you threw one punch at one kid before Jess showed up and basically fought them all that one time.” Alex teased his friend. Zach made an attempt to protest but Alex was already speaking. “Also, Charlie’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and Jess comes in second” Alex said with a teasing smirk.

Zach let out an offended gasp and made a whole show of showing how offended he was. But he knew Alex was only teasing him, so he waited for Alex to continue talking.

“But sure, I’m down for Rosie’s if you get me fries to go along with that milkshake.” Alex said with a smirk.

Zach just agreed. “Sure sure sure, but isn’t Charlie supposed to be the one paying for you? As your boyfriend and all?”

“Charlie’s busy with some family stuff today so you get the privilege of filling in for him and paying for my fries.” Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shrugging his shoulders, Zach waded over to the edge of the pool before lifting himself out. He turned around as Alex waded over and Zach helped lift him out as well. The two of them dried off and got changed back into their regular clothes.

Walking to Zach’s car, Alex sent a text to Jessica to ask if she wanted to meet up with them at Rosie’s.

_ Fantastic Fineapples _

**Alex** _: hey jess, you wanna meet up at rosies? Charlie ditched me and zach for today but we’re heading there right now._

**Charlie** _: Babeeee, I did no such thing :c I’m just spending some time with my parents since my dad has a day off._

**Alex** _: yes charles, i’m teasing you. But for reals jess, you down?_

**Charlie** _:_ _🥰🥰🥰_

**Jess** _: lol could you guys be any more sickenly sweet? i swear justin and i aren’t this bad._

**Alex** _: that wasn’t an answer to my question_ _🙄_

**Jess** _: yes yes grumpy cat i’ll meet you guys there. justin’s spending family time with clay too_

**Zach** _: omg wait Alex is most definitely the grumpy cat meme in real life LOL_

**Jess** _: he really is_

**Alex:** _why am I friends with you two?_

**Charlie:** _I think it’s adorable Lex._

**Alex:** _betrayed by the one I love most._

**Zach:** _stop being dramatic and get in the car lol_

Pocketing his phone and rolling his eyes at Zach, Alex get in to the passenger seat of Zach’s audi. Zach handed him the aux cord before backing out and driving off. The drive to the diner was short and they arrived without any incidents.

Jessica was already seated at a booth when Zach and Alex walked in. Looking up from her phone when they slid into the seat across from her with Alex on the inside and Zach on the outside, she smiled.

“Enjoy your play time in the water boys?” She teased with a smile.

Zach laughed at that while Alex rolled his eyes and flipped her off. They quickly ordered their milkshakes and fries before Jessica turned her attention back to Alex.

“So, how are things with Charlie?” She asked with a big smile.

Zach immediately perked up at this and leaned his head on his arm to look at Alex, almost as if he were trying to physically prevent any opportunity of escaping this conversation. While Jess and Zach had known that Charlie was his soulmate since they were kids, the two of them hadn’t officially started dating until earlier that year. And with the whole accident taking up several months, they hadn’t had a lot of time to talk.

“Things are fine Jess, thanks for asking.” Alex said with another eye roll.

But Jess wasn’t done and apparently neither was Zach. Zach used his free hand to poke Alex’s cheek.

“Fine? Alex I’ve seen the way you look at Charlie now whenever he’s around. There’s a whole lot more you can be talking about than just ‘fine’.”

Jessica nodded in agreement with that statement. “Yeah literally. You stare at Charlie with literal heart eyes. I’m surprised you haven’t just turned into an emoji at this point.”

“Wh-what? I don’t, I don’t stare at Charlie with heart eyes.” Alex stuttered, almost offended.

Zach immediately pounced at that. “Yes you do. Oh my god, remember that one time in fourth grade when Monty was picking on you and then Charlie came over and stood up to this big, scary, mean fourth grader and told him to leave you alone? I swear you literally looked like you were in love for the first time.”

At that, Jessica immediately chimed in. “Oh my god I remember that day. Alex you literally looked at Charlie like he was the single most precious thing in the entire world. It was honestly adorable thinking back at it.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “First of all, he’s my soulmate, obviously he’s the most precious thing in my life. Second of all, fuck you guys, there’s not teaming up on Alex tonight.” He said the second part with no malice or venom in his voice, which only prompted his two best friends to laugh.

“Ok ok, we’ll stop teasing you. But you know we’re both really glad to see you this happy with Charlie right? He’s literally the perfect match to you. You’re all sarcasm and snark and he’s this ray of sunshine that forces you to actually show you’re happy.” Jessica said, reaching across the table to hold onto Alex’s forearm.

“Yeah man. I know it’s an obvious point to make, but Charlie really is the perfect soulmate for you.” Zach said, a genuine smile on his face.

“I know. When we were kids he was already so kind and attentive with me, even though I was more shy compared to him. But now that we’re dating, it’s like everything just makes sense. I know I’m always snark and sarcasm but Charlie genuinely makes me happy and I hope I’m doing the same for him. I loved him before we started dating but now that we are, I really, really, really love him.” Alex said, a rare genuine smile on his face.

Zach and Jess sat back for a second to revel in this small moment where Alex wasn’t hiding his true feelings behind some sassy comment. But of course, Zach being Zach had to kill the moment.

“Awwwh, you’re so soft when it comes to Charlie.” He said in a light teasing tone.

Jessica reached across to smack him on the arm. “Dude, way to ruin the moment.”

Zach just laughed while Alex just shook his head. Their milkshakes and fries arrived at this time and while his friends were distracted with the food, Alex sat back for a moment just to think about how much he loved Charlie and how much Charlie loved him. Grabbing a pen from his pocket, he quickly wrote out something to Charlie on his arm.

_It’s not what we in our lives, but who we have that matters._

_And I am so glad I have you in my life Charles._

Putting the pen away, Alex turned his attention back to his two friends. They had turned their conversation to some random topic and Alex joined in with a comment here and there, but he was also thinking about how glad he was to be alive still. Having Charlie and his friends really made him appreciate his life and how lucky he had gotten after that accident.

Later, after they finished their milkshakes and fries, the three of them headed out. Jess said her goodbyes to her two friends before heading to her car and driving home. Zach and Alex walked over to Zach’s car before Zach asked where to drop Alex off.

“Home. I’m dying for a shower now since I didn’t take one after being in the pool earlier.”

Nodding silently, Zach drove in the direction of Alex’s house. During the drive, Alex checked his arm. He saw Charlie had written back.

_I’m glad to have you in mine as well Lex. <3_

Grabbing his pen, he quickly wrote back to Charlie.

_I’m heading back home, come over for the night?_

It took a moment but Charlie replied quickly.

_If you want. I’ll be over in like 10._

Alex smiled again for the unknown time that night. Thanking Zach for the ride home, he watched as his friend sped off. Then, just on time, he saw Charlie turn the corner of his street. Waiting for his boyfriend to walk over, he opened the door for the two of them. Sharing a quick kiss before heading upstairs, Alex told Charlie to wait real quick while he took a shower.

Showering and feeling much more comfortable, Alex crawled into his bed and motioned for Charlie to join him. Charlie changed into a spare set of pajamas that he kept at Alex’s house before joining Alex under the sheets. Laying down next to his soulmate, Charlie smiled.

“Hi.”

Alex smiled back. “Hi.”

“So, what’s got you all sappy and romantic, I thought I’m supposed to be the romantic one between the two of us.” Charlie said in a teasing tone.

Reaching up to gently flick Charlie’s nose, Alex replied “Oh hush. I was just thinking about how glad I am to be alive right now with you and our friends. You’ve corrupted me with your sappy romantic thoughts.”

Charlie chuckled at that. “Well, if that’s the case then I fully intend to keep this up.”

Alex just huffed out a laugh before leaning in to give Charlie a kiss. When the two separated for air, Alex smiled again.

“Good night Charles.”

“Good night Lex.”

Letting himself drift off into dreamland, the last thing Alex felt was the feeling of Charlie’s arms pulling him closer into his chest. Yeah, Alex was really happy at this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave your comments below and I'll see you all in the next chapter.


	7. Charlie's First Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's nervous about his first game as the varsity team's quarterback. But maybe in the end he was worried for no real reason.

Charlie was NERVOUS. Tonight was his first game as the varsity football team’s quarterback. Rationally, he knew he was just over thinking things. He has been practicing and training with his team for this. He also had Zach and Justin on the team with him and the two of them had helped drill all of the team’s plays and strategies into his head when they weren’t at practice. But Charlie wasn’t listening to the rational side of his brain right now. He was overthinking everything and worried he would mess up the plays right from the start.

Charlie wanted to prove to everyone that him making it onto the varsity team as a sophomore wasn’t a fluke. But he was getting more and more jittery as the time for the game drew closer and closer. Justin must have noticed because while Zach gave his captain’s speech, Justin stood next to Charlie with a reassuring hand on his shoulder. As the rest of the team hyped themselves up, Justin turned to look at Charlie.

“Hey man, don’t sweat it, you’re going to do great tonight.” Justin said with a smile.

Charlie just looked at his feet. “Yeah you’re right. This’ll be good.” He repeated back.

Justin didn’t miss the doubt in Charlie’s voice. This time, Justin physically rotated Charlie so that he was facing him.

“Hey, Charlie, look at me.”

Charlie slowly lifted his eyes from the ground to look at Justin. Justin placed his hands on both of Charlie’s shoulders.

“I know you’re nervous about doing well, but relax. You’re going to do amazing. Zach and I have literally drilled all our plays into you and I’m pretty sure Zach and I are both amazing teachers. So don’t sweat it. We’re all one team and we’ve been working our ass’s off for this game. I believe in you Charlie, so you should too.” Justin said, his voice laced with kindness and confidence.

Charlie didn’t realize when Zach had joined them but he noticed his captain when Zach spoke up.

“Yeah man. You’re going to do great. Plus I have it from a very, very reliable source that a certain someone named Alex Standall will be in the stands watching the game tonight. So you HAVE to play to impress him.” Zach said the last part while wiggling his eyebrows.

Charlie laughed at Zach and thanked both of them for their pep talks. As he picked up his helmet from the bench, Charlie noticed three emojis on the top of his hand. Poorly drawn but still clear which ones they were.

💪😤👊

Charlie’s face broke out into a grin. He knew Alex wasn’t the best with words, so this was Alex’s way of encouraging him. Running after his teammates, Charlie put on his helmet and entered the field. Checking the stands, he quickly found his soulmate standing at the front, Jess, Clay, Tony, Ani, and Tyler with him. Making eye contact with his boyfriend for a split second, Alex gave him a smile before Charlie turned his attention back to the game. Charlie knew, he was going to win this game no matter what.

* * *

“Dude, that was AMAZING!” Zach said to Charlie as their entire friend group entered Monet’s. The group quickly occupied the couches and tables in their usual hangout area. Justin and Clay had gone to get everyone’s drinks while everyone else got their spots. Charlie was still a little shocked at how the game had turned out. The Liberty Tigers had won, and by a wide margin. All that worrying Charlie had done ended up being pointless.

As the group continued to congratulate Charlie, Alex sat next to him holding his hand. Alex himself had very thoroughly congratulated Charlie after the game and had even promised a proper “congratulations” later on. Charlie’s face started to heat up just thinking about it because Alex had the audacity to wink and smirk while telling him that.

Turning his attention back to his friends, Charlie smiled.

“I mean, I can’t take all the credit. You, Justin, and the rest of our teammates did a lot too to make sure we would win.” Charlie said, blushing a little at all the praise he was getting.

Zach just shook his head. “Nah man. Everyone agrees you played the most important role. What did I tell you? You did amazing tonight.”

Chuckling, Charlie accepted the compliment. He knew if he tried to deny it, Zach would only get more insistent. The group’s attention had turned to another topic, so Charlie took this moment to talk to his boyfriend.

Turning to look at Alex, Charlie whispered in to him. “So, what did you think? Football isn’t too bad is it?”

Alex just smirked back. “No, now that I’ve watched you, Zach, and Justin play, I can say with confidence it’s the worst sport in the world.” Alex said sarcastically.

Playing along, Charlie gasped in mock offense. “You take that back Lex.”

Alex chuckled. “You’ll have to make me then.”

Charlie smirked back at that. “Oh, I fully intend to make you take your words back. Later.”

Charlie whispered that last bit in Alex’s ear. Alex flushed red at that, but still smirked back.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Charlie laughed and gave Alex’s hand a squeeze before turning back to the group. Alex himself started a side conversation with Tyler, talking about upcoming movies the Crestmont would be premiering. Charlie joined in on the main conversation, the group was making plans for an eventual trip to Lake Tahoe during winter break. Even though it was still early to be discussing such things, Jess insisted that they at least get some ideas out on the table and set some foundations for their plans.

Eventually the group parted ways for the night and Charlie and Alex made their way back to Alex’s house. Charlie’s parents had opted to go take a quick vacation right after the football game ended, so Alex invited Charlie over so he wouldn’t alone at home. Making their way to Alex’s room, Alex turned to smirk at Charlie.

“Now, I believe you said something about making me take back my words from earlier?”

Charlie smirked back. “I did. And I believe you said something about a proper ‘congratulations’?”

Alex turned to open his bedroom door. “Looks like we’re both going to be busy tonight then. But we can’t make too much noise, my parents are asleep after all.”

Alex pulled them both into his room before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I just wanted to throw in a random filler chapter before I moved to the next major "story arc" since the past few chapters were about Alex's injury. I am going to leave the ending to your interpretation. They could be doing the wildest things in that room or the most wholesome so imagine away what Alex meant by "congratulations" and what Charlie will do to make Alex take back his words. See you guys next chapter! (Hint: Next chapter is going to be the start of the holiday season for these boys)


	8. The Holidays Have Arrived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays at last and Alex is excited to take his soulmate out on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> I'm sorry for the late update, I got sidetracked with other things over the weekend. But I'm back and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It's a bit early to be talking about the holidays but I see no harm in this at all. I'll be back with the next chapter soon!
> 
> Chapter Text

One probably wouldn’t be able to tell that Alex Standall loved the holiday season given his extremely snarky and sarcastic personality. But if you paid attention, you would notice Alex getting a little bit more cheerful at the start of the holiday season and little by little his usual cynical attitude would disappear for a while as Alex fully embraced the time period from Thanksgiving to New Years. But Alex didn’t love the holidays because of the usual clichés like hot chocolate, presents, or Christmas carols. No, he loved them because of all the traditions he had with Charlie, his family, and Charlie’s family.

The Standalls and the St. Georges started their various joint holiday traditions after Alex and Charlie first met. That year, Alex and his family invited Charlie and his family over for Thanksgiving. Then Charlie’s family invited Alex and his family over for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas brunch. The two families then celebrated New Years together at the St. George residence and had a small party together. At that age, Alex and Charlie loved the holidays because their parents would let them sleep over with each other and stay up late. Back then they would stay up reading comics, watching Christmas movies, or playing with their new toys and presents.

As the years went on, Alex and Charlie’s families would continue switching off who would host which holiday dinner and the two of them started adding their own traditions. By the time the reached high school, Alex and Charlie started this thing between them where each year, they would plan a special winter/holiday themed date to go on. This was now Alex’s favorite tradition between him and Charlie because of the sheer intimacy shared between them.

It was Alex’s turn to plan out their date and he was psyched for it. While Charlie was the one known to do grand romantic gestures, Alex wanted to do something similar for Charlie. He wouldn’t be as extra as Charlie, but he was hoping he could be just as romantic this once. He had already planned it all out a month before the holiday season even started. Evergreen always set up a massive outdoor ice-skating rink during the winter time and they had a beautiful light festival as well. Alex felt like an ice-skating date was a bit cliché but he knew Charlie loved romantic cliché’s so he pulled out all the stops for this date. It had also been a week since Thanksgiving and Alex was looking to redeem himself after his embarrassing attempt to impress Charlie with a Thanksgiving lunch date.

Alex woke up that morning to his arm covered in drawings of snowflakes, which Alex found ironic given the fact that they would be going ice skating later in the day. Grabbing a pen, Alex wrote back to his soulmate.

_Geez Charles, are you psychic or something?_

Charlie responded a moment later.

_No, but now I’m starting to wonder what our date is supposed to be tonight :P_

Alex rolled his eyes. Then he realized Charlie wouldn’t be able to see that.

_I’m not telling you Charles, just like the other 10 times you asked_

Heading downstairs, Alex joined his parents for breakfast before heading out to do some last-minute checks to confirm that everything was still good for his date tonight. He walked to the downtown area where the ice-skating rink was and picked up the tickets he had purchased to rent skates and have time on the ice.

During his walk home, Alex’s attention was caught by a store with a range of winter and holiday themed plush toys. Walking in, Alex made a beeline straight to the one that caught his attention. It was a stuffed polar bear wearing a red beanie and a red and white striped scarf holding a cookie. Alex smiled at how much this stuffed toy resembled Charlie. Making a quick impulse buy, Alex headed home with the stuffed bear in hand.

Getting home, Alex reheated the plate of food his mom had left for him for lunch. Quickly finishing his meal, Alex started to get ready for his date. After taking a quick shower, he picked out an outfit that would look good and keep him warm later tonight. He settled on a heather gray t-shirt, burgundy crew neck sweater, and a black coat to wear over all of it along with black jeans he knew Charlie loved seeing him wear. Alex also grabbed his scarf, a plain gray one and wraped it around his neck. Grabbing his phone, keys, wallet, the tickets and the stuffed bear, Alex locked his front door before taking the short walk over to Charlie’s house.

Walking up to the front door, Alex rang the doorbell before arranging the bear so that it looked like it was the one holding the two tickets. Not even a moment later, the door opened to reveal Charlie’s beaming face.

“Hey babe, you finally going to tell me what our date is tonight?” Charlie asked while pulling Alex in for a quick kiss.

Giving Charlie a kiss, Alex broke away and pushed the stuffed bear in front of Charlie’s face.

“I don’t know Charlie, why don’t you look at what I got you and find out.” Alex said nonchalantly. But inside he was hoping Charlie would like both the stuffed bear and the date.

Charlie finally seemed to notice the plush toy in Alex’s hands. Taking the bear, Charlie started examining it, smiling when he noticed the cookie it was holding.

“Awww, he’s so cute. Did you get him because of the cookie?” Charlie asked with a teasing smirk.

Shaking his head, Alex just smiled. “I was walking home earlier and I thought this bear resembled you so I just had to get it. But look at what else it’s holding Charles.”

Charlie picked up the tickets and read them. His eyes widened when he realized what they were for.

“Lex, you planned an ice-skating date? You do know that’s one of the most romantic things you could ever do, right? And you hate cliché, romantic gestures.” Charlie asked, slightly shocked his boyfriend had even thought of this.

Alex nodded. “Yeah, I usually hate romantic clichés but I wanted to do something you’d definitely enjoy too, after all that’s happened this year. So, let’s get to the rink, we’re going ice skating and then we’ll take a walk through the light festival. I think you and I need a new profile picture for our social media pages anyways.”

If Charlie wasn’t positively beaming before, he definitely was now. Placing the stuffed bear inside the house and then joining Alex outside and locking his door, Charlie took Alex’s hand in his own and followed his soulmate toward the downtown area. The entire walk there, they traded a few stories about things that had happened over the week and Charlie teased Alex a bit over the Thanksgiving debacle that happened last week. Alex flushed pink at the memory and tried to steer the conversation away from that memory but Charlie kept teasing him a bit more.

Finally arriving at the ice-skating rink, Alex handed the attendant at the booth their two tickets and exchanged them for their skates. The two of them hurriedly changed into their skates before getting onto the ice. Charlie was having the time of his life skating back and forth and while Alex wasn’t as fast on skates as Charlie, he was enjoying himself watching how happy Charlie was. The two of them skated hand and hand for a bit before getting off the ice. Even though both of them had dressed warmly, they were still shivering from being on the ice for an extended period of time.

Alex looked around for something to warm them up and spotted a hot chocolate stand. Almost dragging Charlie over, Alex bought two cups of hot chocolate and handed one to Charlie. His boyfriend protested at him spending more money but Alex just waved it off. It was, after all, his date that he planned out.

Alex then led Charlie over to the light display and the two of them walked around, admiring the various set ups and scenes that were laid out in front of them. Still walking hand in hand with Charlie, Alex took a moment while Charlie was distracted by the light display in front of them to take a look at his soulmate. Charlie’s eyes were glimmering with awe similar to a child seeing something for the first time. Alex thought Charlie looked young right now. Granted the taller boy was a year younger than him but that point aside, Charlie at this moment, one hand holding onto Alex’s and the other holding his cup of hot chocolate, looked very child-like. Alex’s heart warmed at the sight and he was reminded of kid Charlie, who would drag him around the playground on some crazy made up adventure. At that moment while Charlie marveled at the displays, he radiated a sort of child-like purity that made Alex’s heart race with affection.

Alex wasn’t sure why he was feeling so sentimental right now, but he blamed it on his near-death experience making him just love and appreciate everything in his life that much more. He gave his soulmate’s hand a gentle squeeze and waited for Charlie to turn to face him. When Charlie did turn, Alex stood up on his toes to capture Charlie’s lips in a kiss. Alex tried to convey all the feelings of love and affection through the kiss to Charlie. When the two of them broke apart for air, Charlie smiled for the millionth time that night.

“What’s got you being all affectionate and romantic tonight? Not that I’m not enjoying all of this.” Charlie asked with a teasing smile.

Alex didn’t even find it in himself to give Charlie his usual snark. He just gave Charlie a genuine smile. “What? I can’t show my soulmate and boyfriend how much I love him?”

Charlie chuckled. “You can. And I love you too Lex. So much.”

Alex chose to pull Charlie into a hug at that moment. Leaning up, Alex gave Charlie a quick peck on the lips before speaking. “I love you too Charlie. I’ve just been thinking about how glad I am to be alive for another holiday season.”

Charlie just looked into his eyes and nodded with a smile. Then, pulling his phone out, Charlie gestured to Alex. “We should take a picture here, the lighting here is perfect.”

Alex just nodded as Charlie positioned his phone to take a selfie of the two of them. Charlie had put down his drink in order to hold his phone and he had his other arm wrapped around Alex to pull him into a side hug. Alex had his arms wrapped around Charlie’s neck and shoulder and just as Charlie was about to hit the shutter button, Alex leaned up and gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek. The surprised smile on Charlie’s face immediately made that photo Alex’s favorite.

Charlie pouted a bit at being caught off guard but Alex just laughed. “You look adorable in this photo. Plus it’s nice being the one to catch you off guard for once.”

Charlie stopped pouting at that and just smirked. “Oh really?”

Alex couldn’t even respond before Charlie pulled him into another passionate kiss. _Oh well, best date ever at least_ Alex thought, smiling into the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm thinking of maybe doing a quick one or two shot Thanksgiving ficlet for this AU just so we can see what exactly happened that Alex is so embarrassed by, so let me know if you'd be interest in reading that! But leave your comments below and I'll see you all at the next update!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Eve is almost here and Charlie's excited. But will an unexpected sickness get in the way of his plans?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! I swear I didn't forget about this fic. I left my laptop charger at work over the weekend so I couldn't write anything until this week. I decided to split this chapter into two since it was getting a bit long so hope you all enjoy it!

Charlie was excited for tomorrow. It was Christmas Eve tomorrow and he and Alex had planned on baking cookies all day long. Charlie loved this for two reasons: the first being baking of course and after Alex and football, baking was the love of his life. The second reason though was because this was one of the few times a year Alex would willingly agree to bake. Alex always gave some excuse like “I’m just not that good with baking” or “I like watching you work more” or “But it’s so much effort” half the time when Charlie asked, so he was going to take advantage of tomorrow as much as he could.

At the moment though, he was busy at the market buying ingredients for said baking adventure. Just as he was throwing some bars of chocolate into his cart, his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw Alex was calling him.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” Charlie chirped cheerfully.

Alex’s voice sounded a bit hoarse over the phone. “Hey Charlie, I’m coming down under the weather so I’m not too sure if we can bake cookies tomorrow. I know you’re really looking forward to tomorrow and so was I.”

Charlie’s smile on his face fell a bit, but he then perked right back up. “No worries Lex, I’ll come by in a bit and take care of you. We’ll have you nursed back to full health in time for tomorrow.”

Alex chuckled. “Well, seeing as I can’t physically stop you, I’ll be wasting away until you arrive then.”

Hanging up the phone, Charlie quickly finished his shopping and paid at the front. Loading the bags of groceries into his car, Charlie quickly drove home and put everything away. After putting away the groceries he bought, Charlie made a split-second decision to bring some hot chocolate mix with him. Alex had mentioned being out at home a few days ago and he figured no one had bought a new pack just yet.

Making the quick drive over to the Standall residence, Charlie knocked on the door and waited for someone to open the door. Alex answered after several moments with a blanket wrapped around himself. Charlie walked in before turning around to get a better look at his soulmate.

Alex’s cheeks were flushed and his damp forehead as causing his hair to stick to hit. The way Alex had wrapped himself in the blanket made him look adorable and Charlie couldn’t stop the small laugh that came out of his mouth. Alex looked at him slightly offended.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, I just think you look adorable right now.” Charlie teased, a smile on his face.

Alex turned his head and started marching back up the stairs.

“Oh sure, laugh at my misery. I’m going back upstairs away from you.” Alex was being dramatic but Charlie found it endearing.

As his boyfriend started marching up the stairs, Charlie laughed before following.

“Where are you going Lex?”

“To my room where you can’t laugh at me.” Alex huffed indignantly.

“Aw, don’t be like that, I’m only teasing.” Charlie chuckled.

“No, I’m offended now. You’re laughing while I’m suffering from a horrible disease.” Alex tried to stop the smile from forming on his face as he said this, but he could tell the smile was bleeding into his voice as well.

Charlie grabbed Alex before he could walk into his room and close the door and spun him around. He had his puppy dog eyes on and looked right into Alex’s eyes, knowing his soulmate wouldn’t be able to resist him.

“I’m sorry for teasing Lex. But I did bring hot chocolate so forgive me?”

Alex tried, he really did, to fight the smile forming. But he failed miserably.

“Well, since you were kind enough to bring hot chocoatel, I guess I can let you stay.”

“Oh you’re so generous.” Charlie quipped back. He put his bag down before heading downstairs to prepare two mugs of hot chocolate. When he got back, he found Alex burrowed in pillows and even more blankets. Huffing out a laugh, Charlie set down their mugs on Alex’s nightstand before beginning the laborious task of locating his boyfriend in the mountain of blankets and pillows.

Eventually, Charlie managed to find his boyfriend. He seriously had to resist the urge to coo at Alex because he looked absolutely adorable all bundled up.

“So, how’re you feeling?” Charlie asked, gently stroking Alex’s forehead.

“I have a fever and a mildly sore throat, but nothing too bad just yet. Mom thinks I should be able to sleep it off by tomorrow night, so we’ll see.” Alex replied quietly.

“Did you take any medicine?”

“Yeah, I took some an hour ago.”

Nodding, satisfied with what he heard, Charlie changed into the pair of sweats he kept at Alex’s house. Getting into the bed, he motioned for Alex to scoot over on the bed. Charlie climbed in before wrapping his arms around the entire bundle of blankets and Alex and started stroking Alex’s hair. Alex gave him a curious glance.

“I love you and all but you’re still sick so I’m not risking anything. Can’t have both of us getting sick at the same time after all.” Charlie replied back, sensing Alex’s question.

Alex just sighed before closing his eyes. It was hard to stay awake when he was warm and cozy while Charlie’s fingers were carding gently through his hair. He drifted off, Charlie keeping one hand around Alex while using the other one to scroll through his phone.

* * *

Later that night, Charlie checked Alex’s temperature and saw the fever had broken. Alex’s mom had just come by to bring the two boys food and gave Charlie the thermometer before giving them some privacy. Charlie gently shook Alex awake and watched as Alex blinked the sleep from his eyes.

“Your mom brought us food and your fever broke, so that’s good.” Charlie showed Alex the thermometer.

Alex nodded slightly and reached for the bowl of soup his mom had brought. The two of them ate in peace, Charlie filling in the silence with things he had seen their friends getting up to while Alex had been asleep. After they finished their food, Charlie helped Mrs. Standall do the dishes before heading up to Alex’s room to say goodnight. He wanted to stay over but there was work to be done in the morning if they were going to get through with all their baking.

Charlie gave Alex a kiss on the forehead. Alex smiled back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Charles.”

“Goodnight Lex.”

Charlie closed the door behind him as he headed out the house. He made the quick drive back home, said goodnight to his parents, and then went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day of course, seeing as he and Alex would be baking in the day time and he and his parents were going to see the rest of his relatives for dinner. Charlie slowly drifted off to sleep, images of cookies and blanket cocoons on his mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prom has arrived and Charlie wants to ask Alex out to Prom. But how will the night go for them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm so sorry for disappearing like that for several weeks but I'm back with another chapter for this fic. For those who didn't see my update, this fic will be coming to an end soon, but I still have one or two more scenarios for this AU that I intend to write out. But here's a pretty fluffy chapter for all of you so I really hope you all enjoy!

Charlie was seventeen when he got his chance to ask his soulmate to prom. Charlie knew Alex wasn’t a huge fan of dances but part of him wanted to experience some high school clichés. So Charlie spent weeks leading up to prom trying to figure out the perfect promposal. His first instinct was to do a massive declaration of his love in public because that’s exactly the kind of romantic Charlie was. However, a moment of thinking led Charlie to realize Alex would probably hate any sort of over the top declaration or anything overly public. So Charlie scrapped his plans for lining the halls in posters and photos of the two and went back to the drawing board.

Charlie was quite honestly stumped on how he would execute his plan. He had come up with an idea, but getting Alex to said area would be a challenge. But either Charlie got extremely lucky or the universe decided to take pity on him because Alex ended up getting service hours a punishment for skipping a day of school. The school decided to have Alex clean out one of the old book rooms, which immediately worked for Charlie’s plan.

The day of his intended promposal, he convinced Zach and Jess to help him set up the room. They strung up fairy lights all over the shelves and fake candles and tea lights on the desks and books as well as putting up a massive “PROM?” sign on the wall. When all the preparation were finished, Charlie promised his friends plenty of cookies as payment and Zach and Jess left to go hide and wait for Charlie to ask Alex to prom.

Charlie checked the time before quickly writing a message on his arm. He knew Alex was wearing long sleeves today so he wouldn’t notice the new message on his arm right away. Taking a seat on the stool in the middle of the room, Charlie waited for Alex to walk in.

It didn’t take much waiting though. After a short while, Charlie could hear his boyfriend’s voice outside the door. He was probably on the phone with his mom explaining why he’d be late home from school. Charlie caught the tail end of the conversation as Alex opened the door and walked in.

“…I need to clean out one of the old book rooms so I’ll be home around five.” Alex said as he walked in, attention still focused on his phone call and not the room he had stepped into.

But as soon as Alex closed the door and looked around him, a look of surprise and shock crossed his face.

“So, bye.” Alex said quickly before hanging up his call.

Charlie locked eyes with Alex before breaking out into one of his signature smiles and gesturing to the room around him and chuckling.

Alex pocketed his phone quickly before addressing Charlie.

“What are you doing? You can’t have candles in here. It’s a book room.” Alex said, voice laced with some surprise and fondness.

Charlie just gave a matter-of-fact response. “Oh, these are prop candles, there are no live flames.”

Alex then looked around before turning back to his boyfriend. “Is it safe to assume if I say yes now, you won’t subject me to more of these in the future?”

Charlie, knowing he had Alex convinced, just smiled cheekily. “Yeah, that’s basically the point of all of this. Speaking of which, you might want to check your arm.” Charlie said, while gesturing to his left arm.

Alex looked confused as he rolled up his sleeve to see what was on his arm.

_Alexander Dean Standall. Will you go to prom with me?_

_Yes No_

Alex smiled at the message. Looking at Charlie again, Alex’s face broke into a soft smile.

“Yes, Charles Hayden Brixton St. George, I will go to prom with you.” Alex said as he walked up to his boyfriend.

Charlie leaned down to give Alex a kiss before breaking apart. Before Alex could say anything else though, Charlie stuck a pen in his face.

“You need to respond to the question though Lex.” Charlie said with a teasing smile.

Alex rolled his eyes but took the pen anyways and circled the “Yes” option on his arm. Almost immediately the circle appeared on Charlie’s arm as well, causing both boys to smile. Even after all these years, seeing their soul-bond work still amazed the two of them.

Before either boy could do anything else though, the door burst open and Zach and Jess rushed inside. Alex and Charlie watched in amusement as their two best friends tried not to trip over each other and themselves.

“Were you two eavesdropping this entire time?” Alex asked pointedly.

“What? Of course not. Eavesdropping? Us? We would never.” Zach said, very obviously been called out.

Jess just laughed and said “Yeah, we were. We couldn’t not listen to cookies ask you out to prom after all.”

Alex just sighed and shook his head while Charlie laughed.

“Well, let’s go get milkshakes to celebrate, shall we?” Jess said.

Alex shook his head. “Can’t, I have to clean out this room remember? The room you guys conveniently covered in lights and candles.”

Zach thought for a moment before speaking. “Well, we could help you and then let’s go get milkshakes and fries.”

Getting somewhat reluctant yes’s from Jess and Charlie, the four of them cleaned up the room before heading to Rosie’s. The entire time, Charlie kept stealing glance at Alex, still happy beyond measure that this amazing boy had agreed to go to Prom with him.

* * *

The day of Prom was chaotic to say the least. Their friend group had planned to go together in a limo, but Jess, Ani, Chloe, and Estela would be getting ready at Jess’s house while all the guys would be at the Jensen’s. The plan then was to have the limo pick up the guys first before heading to Jess’s to pick up the girls. But with Jess also being Student Council President, she had to stay late at school to certify the last of the Prom logistics before she could get ready. So it was a race against time to get everything sorted, get ready for prom, and have their photos taken with their dates.

Over at the Jensen’s Charlie and Alex had already gotten ready and were sitting outside in a few of the lawn chairs with Tyler waiting for the rest of the guys to finish getting ready. Tyler, as always, had his camera out and was currently taking pictures of the couple as they sat there. The three of them sat peacefully together, the only noise being the occasional snapshot from Tyler’s camera when he found a new angle or if Charlie and Alex changed positions. A moment later, Zach walked out of the outhouse and joined them.

“What is up sexies? I can’t believe it’s finally Prom.” Zach said as he jogged over and took a seat next to Tyler.

The other three hummed in agreement before all of them lapsed into comfortable silence. Tyler had turned to take photos of Zach, who was more than delighted to model and pose for him. Charlie and Alex meanwhile were trying to stop themselves from laughing too hard when Zach’s poses became increasingly ridiculous but failed in the end when Zach almost fell off his seat in an attempt to strike some crazy pose.

Eventually, Clay, Justin, Tony, and Caleb all exited and Tyler set up his tri-pod so they could get a group photo. After taking a few group photos, Tyler took some individual or pair photos for the guys until the limo arrived. The guys chatted and joked on the drive over. After the limo pulled up to Jess’s house, everyone got out to greet the girls.

Jess, Ani, Chloe, and Estella were stunning in their dresses. The guys dropped plenty of compliments, which made the girls laugh before everyone piled back into the limo. The plan was to take prom pictures at sunset in the local park so they were all trying to stick to the schedule.

Pictures at the park was a fun experience. Alex even indulged Charlie and took as many pictures as his boyfriend wanted. Alex would never admit it out loud, but when Tyler showed him the shot of Charlie holding him in the traditional prom photo pose, he had to fight off a smile because that was probably his favorite one. Even though it had been a few years since the accident, Alex still had a bit of a limp and some limited mobility issues in his arm and the occasional asshole would try to put him down by making him feel not normal for it. But seeing his boyfriend hold him like that as if everything was completely normal made his heart ache with fondness and love.

After the pictures were done, everyone got back into the limo and finally arrived at the venue. Walking inside, everyone had to take a moment to pause and admire the decorations and set up.

“Wow, Jessica Davis does not fuck around.” Charlie said, still in awe at everything.

“No she doesn’t.” Jess smirked, standing next to her friends as she watched them all take in the results of all her work.

“Well, let’s go enjoy this, shall we?” Ani said before dragging Clay off in a grand flourish.

Everyone separated then to wander around the venue, take more pictures, or join the growing group on the dance floor. But Alex wasn’t as keen to dance mostly because he could feel his leg ache at the thought of jumping around so much. So he and Charlie slipped out one of the side doors and found a private balcony with a view of the city.

Alex and Charlie stood there for a while in silence enjoying the view. Eventually though, Alex spoke up.

“You know, I’m glad you asked me out to prom.”

Charlie turned his head to look at his boyfriend.

“Oh? Did I just hear the great Alex Standall admit that my romantic idea was a good one?” Charlie teased.

Alex ducked his head a little while his ears turned pink.

“Shut up Charles.” He mumbled, embarrassed that Charlie caught on so quickly.

Charlie laughed. “I’m glad you said yes to coming with me.”

Alex turned this time to fully face Charlie. Cupping the younger boy’s face in his hands, Alex leaned up to give Charlie a kiss. The two of them separated after a moment, smiles on their lips.

“Come on, let’s go find our friends and our table, I’m starving.” Charlie said, pulling Alex with him as they headed back inside the venue. They were seated at the same table as Clay, Ani, Zach, and Chloe. Jess, Justin, Tyler, Estela, Tony, and Caleb were seated at another nearby table. Charlie, being the gentleman that he was, pulled out Alex’s chair for him. Alex couldn’t help but shake his head but the smile Charlie gave him made his heart flutter all the same.

Dinner itself was mostly uneventful. The food was delicious and everyone talked and joked lightheartedly. Eventually everyone scattered again, some going to the dance floor and other’s (including Charlie) went to go talk to other friends, leaving Alex, Jess, and Zach sitting at the table.

“Can you believe we’re about to graduate from high school soon?” Alex brought up.

“Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. We got this far and it feels like just yesterday we met on the playground in kindergarten.” Zach responded.

“Plus, can you believe we all met our soulmates in the same town? Like what are the chances?” Jeff added.

Alex nodded. “Some part of me is still shocked that this is my life you know? I have two of the best friends in the entire world, an amazing soulmate, a tightly-knit friend group, and I’m going to Berkeley next year.”

“Berkeley with one of your best friends no less.” Jess said, smiling.

Zach just nodded while the three of them sat there, soaking in the night.

* * *

As the night reached a climax, Jess took the stage to announce the Prom King and Queen.

“Liberty High, your Prom King and Queen, or I guess King and King, or Queen and Queen, I guess it’s what they prefer. Your Prom Royalty: Alex Standall and Charlie St. George!” Jess announced.

The room erupted into applause as Charlie lead a slightly flushing Alex up to the stage.

“What? What is this. How did this happen? Was this you?” Alex said, looking at his best friend.

“Secure vote. Looks like the football team was really rooting for you two.” Jess responded.

Alex just turned to look at Charlie, who was positively beaming. Jess got their attention again though when she returned with the tray holding the crowns.

“So, who wants the crown and who wants the tiara?”

Alex and Charlie looked at each other for a moment. Alex made a sort of non-committal shrug before Charlie turned back to Jess.

“I think I’ll have the small one.” He answered.

Jess placed the crown on Charlie’s head, gave him a kiss on the cheek, before turning to do the same to Alex. After both crowns were given out, the crowd started chanting for the two of them to kiss. Alex and Charlie looked at each other for a second before closing the gap between them. The crowd exploded with cheers when their lips met, but to Alex and Charlie, it felt like it was just the two of them up there.

The DJ then signaled that it was time for their dance as Prom Kings and Alex was still a little hesitant. Charlie descended a few steps from the stage before turning around and extending a hand to Alex.

“Your Majesty.” Charlie said, eyes full of love and affection.

Alex finally took his boyfriend’s hand and walked to the center of the dance floor. The two of them began to slow dance while the rest of the attendees watched on.

“Are you happy?” Charlie asked, voice hushed so that only the two of them could hear.

Alex looked up at his boyfriend, his soulmate, the love of his life. He wasn’t expecting the question but at that moment, he knew without a doubt what his answer would be.

“Yeah, I am. I really am.” Alex said, a smile breaking out across his face.

Charlie smiled back. “That’s good to hear. Because I’m extremely happy with you as well.”

Alex went silent for a moment before speaking up again.

“I love you, Charles Hayden Brixton St. George. I love you so much, for all our good moments and our bad. I love that I get to share my life with you.” Alex said, trying to convey how much he loved this boy in front of him through words.

Charlie was stunned for just a brief moment, which Alex took as a win, before he spoke up again. “I’m confident that you are. Because I love you so much too Alex.”

The two of them kissed again as the crowd let out a collective “Awwwh”. Eventually their slow dance ended and everyone swarmed the dance floor to join them. But to Charlie and Alex, they were lost in their own world, just enjoying the night and still processing the fact that they were prom royalty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some liberties with how Alex is characterized in this chapter. Personally I think his whole aversion to romance and his cynical outlook on things in the original verse stems from his bad experiences with Jess and Hannah. So in this AU, since he's been happily with Charlie his whole life, he doesn't have that same aversion to those things. Also, I like to believe that because Charlie's been in his life all this time, Alex is also much happier than he was in the original.
> 
> This is a Chalex fic but for those wondering, I decided to pair Clay and Ani and Zach and Chloe as soulmates. Just for the sake of having some background info.
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in the next!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments keep my motivated and I love hearing your thoughts on this story, so comment below as always! I'll still be updating my one-shot series too while writing this, so check that out if you haven't yet. Until next time!


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